


The Balcony of the Second Floor

by Moon_Raccoon_exe



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: And Too Far, Fluff, He's Disgustingly Romantic, Here goes, If you want to keep it a hundred percent surprise, Ignis Takes Metaphors Too Literally, M/M, Marriage Proposal, You should probably not read the following tags, proposal gone wrong, so you have been warned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-01
Updated: 2017-09-01
Packaged: 2018-12-22 15:10:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11969985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moon_Raccoon_exe/pseuds/Moon_Raccoon_exe
Summary: “I have a surprise for you” Gladio had told him earlier that morning, “so I reserved it just in case.”The night that was supposed to be a date with a surprise and a happy ending.Or the night in which Gladio leaned too much against the railing of a balcony, and Ignis almost had a heart attack.





	The Balcony of the Second Floor

**Author's Note:**

> Sibling Fanfiction to "The Bridge Behind the Ramen Stall" (posted/written by me as well).
> 
> Posted/written thanks to an Anonymous ask that triggered my imagination.
> 
> Thanks to thatgirlyounotknow and tinycactus-tinyllama on Tumblr, one for leaving that anon ask, the other for the support/motivation. 
> 
> Had me writing this in the end.
> 
> Enjoy!

It was Ignis’ favorite place to have dinner with Gladio. 

The restaurant was part of a hotel, but it was accessible to both guests and the open public. It occupied the front part of the first and the second floor of the building, because the low level was solely for the lobby. Both floors had private balconies that did not require of any major protocol to access other than just having luck when being assigned a table, asking for it if it was free, or make a reservation. Despite its privacy and beauty, it was just another table, nothing extra expensive or formal. The balcony of the second floor was Ignis’ favorite for no other reason than the good memory of it; besides having enjoyed of the food and the silence and the privacy, that had been the first dinner he had had with Gladiolus. On an establishment of the outside and not at Ignis’ flat or at Gladio’s house, that is. The first proper dinner outside in the city.

First time they went there, it happened to be the date in which they turned officially into boyfriends. About five years ago, when they were seventeen and eighteen each. It had been a casual accident, and not at all at the same time. The waiter went to check up on them, and when Ignis asked for a dessert, the waiter offered if he had to bring a spare spoon so he could ‘share it with his boyfriend’. None denied or corrected him, and Ignis merely thank him and agreed. Gladio had been furiously blushing for a moment and had it worse when the dessert and the two spoons arrived, and Ignis found that to be, in his own words later that night, ‘oddly adorable’. Once dessert was gone, Ignis had reached across the table to take both of Gladio’s hands and had said ‘Well, I’m glad to have enjoyed it with my boyfriend. Is it fine for me to call you that, now? Or should we still wait a little longer?’

It was easy to tell it was a place that both were fond of, a balcony with some meaning to them, both individually and as a couple. The balcony where, by an accident and a waiter trying to be kind, all those wonderful five years of relationship had started to be as official as it could be.

Sometimes, they went there; on anniversaries, mostly, or when a major good event happened (like when they graduated from school), and sometimes it was simply because they wanted to go have dinner there and nothing else. It was an elegant place, but it did not ask formality from them, so there was no major trouble on casually going. And, every time, they requested the table of the balcony of the second floor. It was usually free, but it had happened a few couple times it was occupied. The couple liked to say they could wait despite the amount of other free tables, until the one they wanted would be free. So, no matter the circumstances, sooner or later, casually or not, they tended to end up in their special table without any major protocol.

That one night, however, Gladio made a reservation for the first time.

“I have a surprise for you” Gladio had told him earlier that morning, “so I reserved it just in case.”

A surprise. Ignis hated to give others (Gladio included. Hell, Gladio in the first place) the pleasure of having Ignis ask what. He was too proud to give Gladio the pleasure of begging to let him know, so he usually did not. Like always, Ignis found subtle ways in random conversations to lead them there and make Gladio spill the information by accident, but it did not work. Gladio showed himself extra cautious that day whenever he spoke with Ignis and did not give him a single hint of what that could be. It only made Ignis smile, and, if he was sincere, he was a bit excited about it. If Gladio had a surprise for him in their precious balcony, it had to be something extra special, and he could not think about what, so curiosity had him on a constant state of both nerves and excitement that he could easily but not fully hide across the day.

“Dress pretty, pretty” Gladio had said.

Still, it did not mean extra fancy. They would outstand in an awkward way. So Ignis, like his boyfriend, dressed simply in semi-formal; black pants, a dress shirt and a black sweater on top. Gladio wore the blazer, a blue so dark it was almost black, that Ignis adored most on him.  
They arrived, hand in hand, at the entrance of the restaurant, the door that was meant for outside commensals rather than having to go through the hotel’s lobby as a guest. Reservation done, they calmly skipped the line, gave their names, and were guided to _their_ spot; the lone table at the balcony of the second floor.  
With no previous comments, Gladio rushed to pull the chair for Ignis with unnecessary drama, which made the man laugh, left with no option but sit on the chair Gladio had pulled. Only once sat, Ignis noticed a small odd change; instead of facing the sides of the balcony, the chairs were set in a way so one was closest to the railing of the edge, and the other was closest to the glass door, giving it its back. 

Ignis smirked to himself and made an entire analysis out of the realization in a matter of a few seconds while Gladio rounded the table to sit at his place; that the chairs had been shifted like that was most surely not an accident or a casual thing. Gladio had said something about a surprise, so it would have had been too much of a coincidence that only that night, with a surprise waiting, the chairs had magically been arranged like that. He thought about the possibilities; that Gladio had pulled the chair for him had been no joke or coincidence either. Gladio had _wanted_ Ignis to sit there. That made it very plausible that the chair arrangement and having to sit precisely in that one had something to do with the surprise. Whatever it was, it was probably arriving from behind him and through the door.

Hah. Gladiolus thought it would _all_ be a surprise. The poor thing seemed to forget Ignis had been raised a strategist, he was trained to look into this sort of stuff. Into everything. And sometimes it spoiled the fun and the surprise. Like this one…because Ignis could or not have a vague idea of what was possibly going to happen that night.  
He felt a bit egocentric at the idea, but it seemed pretty possible; five years of relationship, that Gladio had already spent a year living with him, that Gladio made a reservation at the place where their relationship started, the need of looking good…  
Ignis still needed to see what happened across the night, he needed more hints to make it for sure. But if he had a vague idea of it…if it was what he was thinking…  
Astrals. He had troubles not shying away of Gladio’s eyes on him. 

“So, eager to find out what I’ve got in store for you?” Gladio asked him while both reviewed the menu they were already familiar with.  
“Oh, yes, I am so impatient” Ignis said calmly and not pulling his eyes away of the menu, having made sure to add a sarcastic tone to his words. He heard Gladio laughing, and so Ignis smiled. He had tried to look disinterested, but he knew Gladio knew him better than that.  
“I know you are” Gladio told him with a smug expression, looking up at him. Ignis only gifted him a glance from above the glasses and a playful smirk, that only did but widen Gladio’s ego, to the point he dared wink at Ignis. “So impatient.”  
Ignis laughed in response and shook the head. Gladio laughed as well, before putting his menu down and reached a hand close to place it on top of one of Ignis’, which rested on the table.  
“No, but really” the older man said with a soft smile, “don’t think about it across the night. I swear it’s not coming until we’re done with dinner. I want you to be calm and just enjoy dinner with me, none of us distracted, okay?” he said and squeezed lightly at Ignis’ hand. The light-brown-haired smiled softly in response, looking at him. “Let’s have dinner, calm. And after it, I’ll give it to you. Okay?”

‘I’ll give _it_ to you’. Ignis considered adding those words to his hints to confirm his thoughts and theory.  
He nodded at Gladio, brought their hands up to give a gentle kiss to the older man’s knuckles, and set it back down on the table.  
“No distractions” Ignis promised. “Understood.”  
“Thank you” Gladio said seriously, with only a hint of playfulness in the smile. Ignis returned it, as sweet and playful. Both glanced at each other for a moment, before getting distracted in the menu once more. Quickly, conversation started to flow, like in any other moment spent together. 

Ignis tried to keep the mind clear most of the time. The first and only distraction had been when he quickly glanced at his own left hand, not helping the thoughts, theories and the tickles on the palm of his hand. But he quickly focused again in what was happening; dinner with Gladio. The waiter picked their order, they talked for a while, joked together, laughed as well, were served food, and things carried on normally. It was easy to forget about his curiosity and questions across the night, for conversations with Gladio tended to have that effect on him; made him forget about any other matter but the present and what was around him, Gladio, their food, their time together and their conversations and silences. Only a few times did it happen that Ignis tensed at the sensation that something or someone would appear behind him without him noticing, too hypnotized by Gladio to hear or sense whatever would appear behind him to surprise him.

However, dinner carried on with no major interruptions. Nothing appeared behind him to scare him. And, like Gladio had promised, nothing happened until they were done with dinner, dessert included.  
“Well, I promised to give you a surprise once dinner was gone, so…” Gladio said after some post-meal conversation and in the moment that he found ideal. However, the Shield did not move from his spot. He kept the arms rested on the table, and the eyes on Ignis. Soon enough, the glass door opened, and Ignis did not turn just for the pleasure of being surprised. It turned out to be the waiter, with a pair of glasses and a bottle of wine. He set the glasses on the table and filled them in silence, with elegance.  
“Wine” Ignis noted. “Are we in the presence of a toast, perhaps?”  
“A required, necessary toast, yes” Gladio said with a small nod. They thanked the waiter once he had served the glasses. “This is too special not to.”

Ignis felt his heart speed up inside. He had tried to keep composure, but it was starting to break; excitement grew with every passing second, and it was harder to not show how happy and eager he felt. He was mostly sure about what was to come, and while he hated to not be a normal person for once and have had it as a full surprise, the excitement was not kept short nor did it make it smaller, in any way. If anything, it just made Ignis’ entire body tickle, and caused his stomach to twist inside as if all his organs were screaming loudly and non-stop. He did not care his composure was starting to shatter, and simply let himself grin at Gladio and look at his with sparkling, excited and loving eyes. He took his glass and watched the Shield, who was softly smiling at him, do the same. They raised their glasses and brought them together to carefully hit them against each other.  
“To your surprise” Ignis said lowly, unable to get rid of his grin.  
“To my surprise” Gladio said and half-nodded at his boyfriend. He sounded serious, and his smile remained controlled, calm. “To us.”

Both sipped from their glasses, taking their time. Soon enough, both set their glasses down onto the table. And, immediately after that, Gladio’s hands sneaked across the table, ignoring everything, and only reaching for both of Ignis’. He took them gently in his own, pulling very slightly from them, holding them in a way so Ignis’ knuckles faced up, as if cradling them. Gladio looked at their very soft grip and contained a sigh in his chest, his shoulders raising and falling with the motion. Ignis could not take his eyes off his boyfriend, eyes still sparking and small grin still present. Gladio still stayed quiet and fully serious, blinking once, the eyes down on their hands. The solemnity of the situation only made Ignis feel more eager and nervous.  
After what felt like forever, Gladio looked up, but not at him.  
Ignis, not helping the curiosity, looked over his shoulder to see what was wrong.

If this was the surprise, Ignis did not understand the purpose of it.  
It was Prompto, walking through the glass door, closing it behind himself. He looked as bouncy as ever, and nothing about him looked particularly different or remarkable.  
“Hey, guys!” the blond greeted, happily waving at them.  
“Prompto” Ignis blinked in surprise. He had been prepared for anything walking through the door, but to have the sudden solemnity interrupted by no one else but the prince’s best friend was…new and rather unexpected. It felt like an invasion of their privacy. If this was what he thought it was, having a third viewer was…odd. Had Noctis come along, maybe Ignis would have understood better because it would have been a Gladiolus thing to do, ask the pair of friends to witness the special moment, but it was only one of them.  
Oh…and his camera.  
Ignis looked at him and smiled, but could not help to furrow the eyebrows in confusion.

“Prom’s here to snap a few pics of the moment” Gladio informed him, calling his attention back. “If you don’t mind, that is.”  
“Ah, I see” Ignis said and turned to kindly smile at Prompto again. “Okay, then. I’m eager to see your photography work on this. It’s been a special night, and Gladio says he’s got a surprise which, I think, could be fantastic to see portrayed.”  
“You leave all the work to me” Prompto said while pulling his camera up, turning it on and moving to a side of the balcony. So that was…why the chairs had been arranged like that, only so Prompto could snap a few pictures from that angle? Really, the front, normal view would have been better. But this was Gladio’s doing, and Ignis appreciated all the effort, so he would say nothing. That it was a gesture from Gladio, who was doing it all from the heart, was more than just enough. “Okay, so now look at each other like you don’t notice I’m taking a pic!”

Both of the older men laughed softly, and simply obeyed. The click of the camera followed after a few moments, and Prompto proceeded to start instructing them like they were models in a photoshoot; ‘now pose like this’, ‘now take your cups and toast, while looking at each other’, ‘perfect angle!’, ‘I love the light!’, ‘and you tilt the head lightly and…right there!’, ‘geez, can I sell some of this? They’re so good, I’ll earn some good cash. What do you mean no’, and so more and more minutes went on with the three of them having fun together, sharing some laughter, and the couple enjoying of the posing and staring. After the surprise photoshoot and some laughs, they retook conversation, and Prompto kept the camera up. At first Ignis thought he was checking the photos, but it soon became clear he was filming.  
“Okay, enough photos, sunshine boy” Gladio said towards Prompto, turning to look at Ignis. “I would’ve asked him to snap pics of our real dinner, but I thought it’d be awkward to have him here all the time. Would’ve had been uncomfortable to talk just you and I.”

“Oh, well, excuse me” Prompto said with some sarcasm, but he stayed happy behind the camera. “Not like I would of have interrupted. What’d you talk about that would make it awkward, anyway?”  
“Time in bed” Gladio said with an exaggerated cocky look and wink at the camera. The reaction, of course, was immediate, and Prompto let out a childish ‘Eeew’ that had Ignis roll the eyes and chuckle while his boyfriend laughed. “Okay, can I continue now?” Gladio asked and had a tiny childish but friendly argue with Prompto, before nodding, thanking him with some sarcasm, and turning his attention back to Ignis. Curiously, Prompto stayed quiet instead of delivering any joke or comment. Ignis mentally thanked that; the moment was special and returning to the main point, and he thanked that Prompto was respecting it and understanding. 

It took a few moments of silence to retake the seriousness from before. Gladio, once more, let his hands travel across the table to get a grip of Ignis’ like before, in a way that let him stare at the adviser’s knuckles. Like before the interruption, he took in a subtle but noticeable breath, and let it out slowly and softly, eyes down, gathering focus.  
“Ignis” Gladio started, looking up and squeezing on Ignis’ hands for a moment. The latter felt the same sensations than before; the heart speeding up, the almost childish eagerness, the excitement tickling throughout his body. He started to grin slightly while looking at his boyfriend, allowing him to continue. “This is where it all started. Where ‘Us’ started. And ever since then we’ve been through everything and anything together; good times, bad times, intimacy in all aspects. You’ve let me look into your soul, the places you hadn’t let anyone in before, and I’ve let you look into mine, have guided you places of my inside that no one had known before.”

As he spoke, Gladio sometimes squeezes on his boyfriend’s hands very softly, but without it going unnoticed. His speech made Ignis’ whole body tense as his theory was basically fully confirmed, and his grin widened a little more, eyes starting to burn even before the tears had appeared at all.  
“We have been through five years of absolute love, Iggy” Gladio continued, a little more lowly this time. “Joy or sadness, it doesn’t matter what we’ve been through; what matters is how we lived it, the common factor of every second of our relationship, the one thing always present no matter the color or the essence of the events; love” the Shield looked down for a moment again at his boyfriend’s knuckles, smiling warmly. He seemed a little nervous, but also entirely content. Ignis stayed completely quiet, watching him. There was a noticeable pause before Gladio looked up at him. “So I have one question for you that I should have asked earlier.”

Confirmed. The one question. Ignis had not wanted to build hopes up in case the surprise would be something entirely different, but he had not been able to help but mentally prepare the answer. It was obviously positive, but he did not want to be taken off guard and look like an idiot and stutter, let alone now that it all was being filmed. He had thought he was prepared. But apparently not, due to all the feelings inside; he felt as if though his heart had been gripped by an iron hand that squeezed hard inside him, and his brain simply…went numb. All the answers and speeches he had prepared were all suddenly gone. Because even though he had mentally prepared himself with the situation, it was _finally_ here and it was too exciting to ever be prepared. 

“I need to do this on my feet” Gladio said lowly and let go of Ignis’ hands, groaning slightly as he stood up from his chair. He sighed tremblingly and pulled lightly at the collar of his shirt. “Gods, I need some air, dammit.”  
Ignis found his nervousness to be oddly adorable, so he merely laughed while Gladio paced a bit nervously closer to the edge of the balcony. He took the railing and stared down, breathing deep in and out slowly to calm himself. Ignis only watched him and stared away at times. He was nervous himself, and could not help but to move a hand up and use his fingers to caress one of his temples, laughing with warmth, nerves and joy. Gladio turned around and smiled at him. Ignis returned the glance, as if saying _’I know, I’m nervous too’_.  
“I know you already know what I’m talking about, but I tried to keep it as surprise as possible” Gladio admitted to him with a small grin. “I didn’t have it with me so you wouldn’t notice. So, sunshine boy, hand it over.”

Ignis looked at Prompto and laughed soundlessly, covering his face with both hands for a moment. Dear gods, it was the moment, it was happening!  
He quickly returned his attention to Gladio, who leaned casually against the railing behind himself and put a hand up, smiling friendly at the blond.  
“Come on, Prompto” Gladio hurried softly. Ignis did not take his eyes off his boyfriend, too moved to do anything else, while the blond looked in his pockets.  
“Ah, thought I had lost it for a minute out there!” Prompto said cheerfully as he pulled it out. Ignis looked at it. A box. A little black box that could contain only one thing. Ignis stared away and covered half of his face again, laughing softly and soundlessly again. Gods, he was so happy, he was so ecstatic he felt he would implode. “Catch, Big Guy.”  
Said that, Ignis turned to look at Prompto as if to tell him that was not the best of ideas, but he could barely open the mouth when the blond was already throwing the little box towards Gladio.

Ignis, still sat at his chair, leg crossed and arms on the table, followed the little box with the eyes. He saw it reach Gladio. A bit too high. Saw Gladio stretch the arm up to catch it. Saw the box fly past him and past the balcony.  
Saw Gladio’s hand trying to follow it.  
His eyes watched the box fly past the balcony and fall down to the street, and Gladio, trying to catch it, bent a bit too much backwards against the railing. Ignis had opened the mouth to warn him, but it was too late.  
Suddenly, Gladio lost balance and his center of gravity, and he fell past the railing and down to the street, two floors down.  
Gladio _fell off the balcony._

Ignis was up on his feet without a word and almost at the same time that Gladio had disappeared behind the railing. He felt the heart pounding so hard in his chest he could almost feel it in his throat. He felt as if his soul had been taken out of him at the time everything inside him dropped. The eagerness turned to terror; the happy smile turned to wide eyes and dropped jaw, the fear invading, the soul escaping through the mouth and the heart throbbing in his throat.  
“Prompto!”  
He was not sure of why he had called that instead of ‘Gladio’. Perhaps it had been a reflex of nagging, of blaming.

Whatever it was, he did not stop to think. Ignis did not turn twice, not even once, and he did not stop for a half a second. As soon as Gladio had fallen back, Ignis stood from the table and hurried, almost turning it as he made his way to the edge of the balcony as well. His smile was long gone, even before Gladio had fallen, and there was pure fear in his face. He was feeling as if an ice sword had pierced right through the core of his heart.  
Hurrying his way and basically running the few meters of distance between his seat and the edge, Ignis was there in a matter of a few seconds, gripping hard at the railing only to stop himself from running past it, and his eyes stared down immediately, and only by luck did his glasses stay in place.  
And the world did not make sense when he looked down at the street.

Gladio laid there, two floors down.  
Resting on an inflatable bag that stunt actors used for risk scenes.

Down on the street, there was the inflatable bag, and, around it, written in big signs to be seen from Ignis’ height, there were the words Ignis had expected all night, but not this way.  
‘Will’  
‘You’  
‘Marry’  
And, lying on the inflatable mat, Gladio happily held the last sign in a hand, and the box in the other. He was raising both up to the skies, happy and cheerful.  
His sign read ‘Me?’

Ignis stared at the scene and felt his heart falling out through his mouth. It was horrible and wonderful at the same time. He felt his lungs inside him twisting and he exhaled something he could not name, that both ached and healed at once. He lost the breath after that. His body untensed fully and he took off his glasses to put the head down and hide his face behind a hand. Down on the street he could hear people cheering. Some were curious passerby people that had stopped to witness (because who knew how long the inflatable mat had been there), and who took photographs with their phones and celebrated, cheering Ignis on giving the Yes, some others clapping. Ignis looked again at the scenario down on the street, and watched the few people around. One of them looked up in total calm, and Ignis could easily figure that to be Noctis. That little ass, must have been responsible for the goddamn inflatable bag. The gods damn Noctis, he knew and he agreed to this prank that almost made Ignis get a heart attack.

And thinking about it…

“You knew!” Ignis realized as he turned around and pointed with a blaming finger at Prompto, who, he found, was laughing and still filming his entire reaction. Fantastic, now they had the way his face dropped from utter happiness to immediate and real terror in a blink, and the way he hurried to the edge of the balcony in paranoia. “You were aware the entire time and you let him do this!” Ignis growled as if exasperated, but he could not help but laugh at the same time he gripped at his own hair with both of his hands, pacing around the balcony, made a mess inside. “You knew and you let him throw himself off a second floor, you don’t do that, Prompto! I almost- I almost-“  
“You should have seen your face, buddy!” Prompto laughed. “I got it all filmed!”  
“I thought you had killed him, and I swear I was about to kill _you_ , Prompto little twat Argentum” Ignis said and tried to stay serious and threatening, but he started laughing again, staring away and shaking the head No, going over to a column to rest his back on it. “I’m _still_ going to kill you. And Gladio. And Noct. I’ll kill you all for doing this to me. Stop filming me, Prompto Argentum, stop that, I’m going to murder you three for doing this to me, what in Eos is wrong with you people!?”

Both men continued to argue for a couple of seconds, every few in which Ignis looked down at the street again and the signs on the floor, and Gladio happily looking up at him, even resting on the bag like he was just taking the sun in a summer day.  
“Well, enough, okay, you’ll kill me later, but right now you’ve gotta answer him, buddy!” Prompto hurried Ignis, camera still up and filming everything. Ignis had a hand on the railing and shook the head in disbelief, avoiding to look anywhere. “So? So? So? That a yes? That a yes?”  
“What do you think that is!?” Ignis asked him as if upset, but grinning at the camera. “That’s a yes, why would I want to say no!? I have- I’ve got to tell him.” Ignis looked down at the street again, Gladio still on the mat, sat this time and still staring up at him. Ignis smiled warmly while watching him. “I have to tell him.”

“Yes! Go, go, go!” Prompto cheered while filming as Ignis let go of the railing and turned around. He knew Ignis and his confidence, but Prompto was pretty sure he had never before seen him as determined about something as now that the man had started to head his way towards the building, which would lead him to the stairs, which would, eventually, lead him to Gladio and the ring. Ignis wasn’t hesitating or trembling as he headed for the door that leaded back into the restaurant, and Prompto started following him to keep it all filmed.  
However, once at the door, Ignis stopped.  
Prompto thought the man had troubles opening the door, but Ignis was not even trying to open it. He had frozen as if though taking the door had literally stopped time for him.  
“Ignis? What’s wrong? Let’s go downstairs so you can tell Gladio!” Prompto hurried him as if the man had forgotten what he was doing there. Still, Ignis did not move for a few seconds.  
Suddenly, he let go of the door.  
“Huh? Ignis?” Prompto called, confused and not catching what was wrong. 

Ignis looked over his shoulder at him.  
And he smirked.  
Before Prompto could process what was happening, Ignis turned around and started heading back to the edge of the balcony. Prompto cleared the way to him without questioning him, thinking maybe Ignis was going to tell Gladio to wait there for him. Without a word, Ignis calmly walked back to the railing and he held onto it. He looked down for a second.  
The next one, he was pushing himself off the railing, hopping past it, and letting himself fall off the balcony.

There was panic in the ‘public’ when Ignis threw himself down. Almost as soon as he had hopped past the railing, the people that were gathered around (a crowd that had started to grow) all went into a mess of screaming and/or clapping and cheering. Gladio, who had just been helped off the inflatable mat ever since he saw Ignis had hurried to go downstairs, looked up when he heard the first cheering, and what he saw was Ignis already in the air, falling straight to the mat.  
“What the-!?” was all that Gladio was able to half-yell, watching his boyfriend fall and land on the bag. The crowd was still going nuts around, and Gladio hurried back to the bag to help Ignis. Once arriving, Ignis was already crawling to the edge of the mat, with a few struggles due to the way it sank on his weight. Gladio lost the breath for a moment and kept the eyes widened in surprise, but his body acted nonetheless, not freezing as he offered his hands to Ignis. The man accepted them and Gladio helped him to the very edge, where Ignis sat for a moment, and from where he hopped off in a way in which he would have fallen face-plant to the floor had he been alone, but having done it because he had Gladio there. Trusting him to catch him.

Gladio did, without even thinking. He opened the arms only enough so that, when he felt Ignis on him, he shut them close and soon had the man hugged to his neck, the feet not touching the floor the way that Gladio carried him. The Shield, ecstatic with joy but also surprise, was not sure of how to react as he simply turned around and walked a few steps away of the inflatable bag before putting Ignis down on the floor. Both ignored the curious crowd that had stopped in their way of their normal night to watch the proposal, and ignored those that took photos or filmed with their phones. Ignis wondered, only for a second, while he had been lying on the mat, if those people knew who they were and that was the root of their curiosity, or if they would find out only after they re-watched the video and spotted Noctis standing in the background. The surprise they would get.

Once on his feet, Ignis held onto Gladio’s forearms for support, a bit startled from the fall.  
“Ignis, what in the actual name of Ifrit!?” Gladio asked him loudly and slowly, before he started to laugh both in surprise and joy, unable to take his eyes off Ignis. “Ignis, you didn’t have to do that!” he yelped but continued to laugh. He stared away for only a moment, and looked back down at a smiling Ignis that adjusted his glasses. “Ignis, you could have- you didn’t have-“ the Shield stopped again to laugh. “Ignis, why did you do that!? It was not necessary, I-I didn’t mean to make you…”  
“You didn’t _make_ me” Ignis interrupted him, calm and smiling, in contrast to the trembling, excited and utterly surprised Gladio. “I _wanted_ to jump.”  
“But why? Oh, gods, Iggy, I’m-“ Gladio stopped there and had to let go of their mutual grip of forearms to step back and pace in a small circle, laughing, shocked. He returned and let Ignis take his forearms again, gripping back. “You didn’t have to, you could come downstairs, I could wait all life for you, there was no need to rush, I’m-”  
“Hey” Ignis called at the same time he moved a hand to put a finger to Gladio’s mouth. It was not any actual barrier to make him stop talking, but Ignis had tamed his behemoth good enough to need of only that gesture to make him understand. Ignis was smiling warmly up at him, eyes watery. “You jumped off a second floor for me? Then, I jump off a second floor for _you.”_

Gladio’s smile was gone. His mouth was slightly parted behind Ignis’ finger, and his eyes scanned Ignis’ eyes and expression of joy and affection. The adviser allowed the pause to continue for a bit, at the time his sweet grin widened, eyes never off Gladio.  
“That’s what husbands do, right?” Ignis asked him. “Crazy things for each other. You jump, I jump. Always together?”  
It took some moments and another pause. Ignis had not gotten any closer, but his eyes only turned warmer by every passing second, and bigger. Gladio stared down at him with some shock, unable to think for a moment. Both stared at each other, and Ignis did not mind nor interrupted Gladio in the moments that he needed to take to process what had happened.  
And when he did, Gladio’s face suddenly lit with joy, such a pure, innocent and honest joy that it made Ignis laugh and then subtly bite down on his lower lip to contain himself from crying. Gladio used to stare at him with great love in many moments, but his joy from hearing Ignis’ answer was so pure and so honest that, for a moment, Ignis could not believe someone would be this happy from this, from _him_. 

“Is that a yes?” Gladio asked in almost a murmur, grinning happily at his boyfriend. Ignis furrowed the eyebrows at him and stayed quiet, before he just let out a half-exhale half-a-laugh, surprised and moved, and also a bit amused.  
“Gladio” he called, as happy as before, “I’m pretty positive I wouldn’t have had jumped off a second floor if I wanted to say No.”  
“That’s a yes!” Gladio roared at the time he threw the arms up. The crowd, still watching the whole scene, reacted like they heard they found the cure to all known illnesses; the cheering turned into a collective roar, and some threw the arms up as if mimicking Gladio. There were cheers and clapping, but the couple most certainly did not pay attention. Gladio was too busy throwing the arms around Ignis and pulling him into one of those hugs that Ignis usually complained about (because ‘you’ll break my spine and will kill me, can you please not hug so tight!?’). But not that night. He said nothing, and if anything, he almost wished for Gladio to hug him as tightly as never before.

Ignis, at first, was unable to return the gesture, since his arms were trapped in Gladio’s bear hug. However, the Shield untightened only enough for Ignis to pull the arms out, but did not give him time for anything when Gladio was already tightening his arms around Ignis’ hips, pulling him up and carrying him, and apparently not planning on putting him down soon. Ignis, no option left and partly on reflex, wrapped his arms around Gladio’s neck, laughing and letting the other carry him as he pleased. The Shield only carried him around a few steps, rocking him to the sides playfully, before setting him back down on the floor. Both shared a small laugh, looking at each other.  
“Well” Ignis started, unable to stop grinning, “I am afraid the engagement is not official until the ring is delivered appropriately.”  
“I’ve got that, Kupo Nose” Gladio told him in a murmur, winking a playful eye at him before one of his hands dug into the pocket of his jacket. 

Just as he pulled it out and as he was starting to go down on a knee, they were interrupted; Noctis got close and called for ‘Hey, wait a minute’ at them.  
“Prom wants to film it _all_ ” Noctis explained to them as if completely disinterested, arms crossed, but the smirk on his face betrayed his real need of expressing joy. Before he was done talking, the three turned to the door of the restaurant when they heard a distant scream that did not come out of nowhere; it sounded as if it had been lasting long already and the person was approaching them. Which was exactly what happened; Prompto, screaming his lungs out since Ignis threw himself off the balcony, was running downstairs and across the low level of the building, filming himself. A ridiculous and amusing scene, the three laughed while watching the blond hurry his way there, not stopping to scream.

Once he made his way out, Prompto turned the camera away of his face and towards his friends, panting loudly and unable to stay completely upwards, body going down to rest a hand on his knee.  
“Specs! You abandoned me up there!” Prompto complained. “I thought- I thought- I thought I’d just run downstairs with you, but no, of course not, you had to _jump off_ , it was amazing but why did you do that to me!? No way was I jumping after you, what if my camera- that’s not- I had to run all the way here, I thought I was going to miss the going-down-on-a-knee thing and I- and I-“  
“Prompto” Noctis interrupted his panting and rambling friend, putting a hand to his shoulder. “You’re ruining the moment. Just film their sappy, disgusting engagement thing.”  
“Lovely description” Ignis said as if thanking his friend, who just cockily grinned at him. 

The four went quiet again, and things returned to the main point. Ignis and Gladio turned their attention to each other again, standing close. Noctis stayed quiet, and now that the couple was not watching him, he smiled sweetly at the scene, arms crossed. Prompto tried to stop panting, camera up and trying not to shake to keep a good video of it. Gladio still took some moments, just looking at Ignis in silence, attentive, as if wanting to memorize every detail of those treasured seconds. The last seconds as boyfriends. The last seconds of what would be, in a few more moments, his previous life, before a new one started. Ignis let him stare, and he stared back as well. 

Once when they were ready, silently agreeing without needing of anything but a glance, Gladio smiled at him and, without taking his eyes off Ignis at first, he went down to a knee, slowly and carefully, like he had to be careful with the floor or it would shatter under them. Once there, he only blinked once at Ignis, before he put the head down as if bowing to him. He took the box in both hands and looked up at his boyfriend again, opening it and revealing the white-silver ring in there.  
“Ignis Scientia…” Gladio started saying. Before he could even say anything, Ignis was already nodding at him, grinning. Amused and moved, Gladio grinned back and started laughing lowly. “Ignis, I haven’t said anything.”  
“Yes, you have” Ignis said and found that his voice came out as a thread. He swallowed to clear his throat and tried again. “You threw yourself off the second floor just to ask that, that said it all.”  
“So is that a yes?” 

Gladio could not help a grin when Ignis laughed again. Once done, Ignis offered him his hand, gently. When the older man took it, he could not help but notice his boyfriend was trembling slightly, something that only made him smile; for someone as calculating and calm as Ignis, to have him trembling was one big achievement. For a moment, Gladio felt more powerful than any army in the world; Ignis could face enemies if it had to come to that without a single hint of shaking, so that Gladio had broken that composure, it had to mean something. Still down on a knee, Gladio took the ring from the box, left said container on the ground, and slipped the piece of jewelry on Ignis’ finger, carefully, taking his time. The small crowd that had inevitably gathered around cheered as it happened. Once the ring was in its new rightful place, Gladio took the hand with both hands and brought it close to his face, kissing the back of Ignis’ hand, kissing his knuckles, and finally kissing the ring, before he looked up.

Ignis was staring down at him with the warmest smile Gladio had ever seen before on him. His eyes were a bit watery, but he did not break into tears. The Shield returned the smile and eventually went back up to stand on full height. He had just opened the mouth to say something, but Ignis did not let him; the prince’s adviser closed the distance between the two, arms sneaking under Gladio’s arms to hug him tightly from the torso, and head coming to rest on his chest. Gladio, a bit startled at first, soon laughed lowly, lovingly, and he returned the hug. No kiss was required in that moment, only the embrace. The Shield squeezed Ignis in his arms, hearing his spine crack a bit and his mouth letting out an amusing groan, but Ignis did not complain or fought back.  
As they hugged, the crowd broke into a last, loud cheer. Prompto and Noctis joined, the prince clapping, while the blond threw his free hand up and cheered. 

Gladio softened the hug only enough not to be crushing the smaller man, but kept him in a firm embrace. They rocked very, very slightly side to side, in silence, while the others cheered for them. Some moments into it, they separated without breaking the hug, so they could look up at each other, faces inches apart. They shared a smile and a glance before any of them dared break the silence (to them, the crowd was in another world).  
“You are the craziest man on Eos, Gladiolus Amicitia” Ignis told his fiancé, but it sounded almost the opposite to a nag. “And the most horrible prankster too, I almost have a heart attack. I don’t know why I said yes.”  
“That’s because you’re the other craziest man on Eos, Ignis Scientia” Gladio replied with a playful grin. “You jumped too, you know?”  
“I know” Ignis grinned back. “See, you already corrupted me. That’s it, I just lost my head and sanity.”

Gladio laughed, arms still wrapped around Ignis and adjusting to be rounding the waist, keeping their bodies pressed together. Once done laughing, the Shield looked down at him with warm brown eyes and smiled sweetly.  
“Well” he started, “Makes me happy to know I’m the man responsible for your madness.”  
“The gods have mercy on me” Ignis sighed, shaking the head lightly, “I too am grateful it’s you.”

They shared a tiny low laugh together for a moment. After that, Ignis offered no complaint when Gladio leaned down towards him and kissed him. They closed the eyes before their lips met. During the kiss, one of Ignis’ hands landed on Gladio’s cheek, cupping it, caressing it.

Without breaking the kiss, Gladio leant the face into Ignis’ hand, adoring the touch of it, the sensation of the skin, the warmth of his palm.

And the cold touch of the ring, contrasting, new, and beautiful.

**Author's Note:**

> The Bridge Behind... and The Balcony of... are not continuations of each other, or complementary.
> 
> They share some elements, scenes and gestures, and they were inspired by the same Anon Ask, so they remain sibling stories.
> 
> I'm not confident on this one as I am on its sibling, but it would have been sad to post one without its brother. Still hope you like it.
> 
> Original proposal idea not mine, inspired instead on the one viral YT video you can find here: https://youtu.be/CKX5GTYFrk4
> 
>  
> 
> Original ask: http://moonraccoon-exe.tumblr.com/post/164531379548/steps-up-to-mic-clears-throat-gladnis
> 
>  
> 
> Thank you for reading! Feedback is appreciated. :)


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